Mark Arendz
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 March 1990 |
| Residence | Charlottetown |
| Height | 193 cm (6.33 ft) |
| Weight | 75 kg (165 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Canada |
| Sport | Paralympic biathlon, Para-Nordic skiing |
| Updated on 25 June 2015. | |
Mark Arendz (born 3 March 1990) is a Canadian biathlon and Para-Nordic Skier. He was disabled at the age of seven when his arm got caught in the blades of a grain auger. He participated in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Paralympics and won 2 medals in total.
Arendzz was born on 3 March 1990 in Hartzville, Charlottetown. At the age of seven, he lost his left arm when he lost his balance putting corn into a grain auger. His arm up to his shoulder was caught in the blades which was later amputated in Halifax. After the accident, he worked as a junior counselor for the War Amps organization. He also went to Nicaragua with the non-profit organization SchoolBOX to help build a school for the community who had to move.
At his first Paralympics in Vancouver 2010, Arendz participated in six races. However, he did not win any.
During the 2014 Paralympics, he received a silver and bronze medal for the 7.5 kilometres Standing and the 12.5 kilometres Standing respectively. Arendz entered the 7.5 km standing biathlon as the defending champion. He came second in the event with Vladislav Lekomtcev of Russia getting gold arriving seven tenth of a second before Arendz. Azat Karachurin, also from Russia, took bronze in the event. The weather conditions were not good as it rained with heavy fog for the 12.5 kilometre race. Arendz finished the race in 30:24:6 while the defending world champion Azat Karachurin of Russia took gold again. Arendz became the first canadian to win two biathlon medals at the Winter Paralympics. After the games, his former ski club Brookvale Nordic Ski Centre had renamed a ski trail in Brookvale, P.E.I after him, boasting this is where he trained. Arendz hopes the new ski trail will encourage more people to give biathlon and cross country skiing a try.
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